Pim Ronhaar had a wild experience on the Flamanville World Cup, colliding with course fencing and avoiding a close to crash with a gaggle of geese. He got here by the flurry of surprising obstacles with out inflicting hurt to himself, or the birds, however misplaced the race lead and one spot within the World Cup standings.
The 22-year-old Baloise Trek Lions rider opened a solo lead of 14 seconds over chasers, which included World Cup chief Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and teammate Lars van der Haar, who was additionally trailing Ronhaar in third place within the sequence standings. However with three laps to go, Ronhaar started to lose a grip within the slippery mud after which on his lead. He would ultimately place third in a race received by Iserbyt.
“I used to be driving robust lap instances, each lap 8:35. I used to be not feeling that nice, however my fundamental tempo was excessive. I noticed that Eli [Iserbyt] had a foul begin, so I needed to push from the start. Then three laps from the top he sprinted to my wheel and I attempted to stick with him, however I used to be carried out,” Ronhaar recounted on the end.
It wasn’t only a collision with fencing that disrupted Ronhaar’s rhythm, however the sight of three geese who had apparently wandered throughout the course from a close-by lake. He might have cried ‘foul’ for a near-crash when one of many fowls determined to get in the course of the motion, however laughed in regards to the incident later.
“Instantly Huey, Dewey and Louie have been sitting there,” mentioned Ronhaar in a report by Het Niewsblad. “I nearly ran over them.”
Two of the geese have been seen on the reside broadcast contained in the fencing on a flip, getting a close-up view of Ronhaar as he swerved to overlook them on the fourth lap, his lead nonetheless intact. Then as Iserbyt, Van der Haar and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Baloise Trek Lions) went by the identical nook within the chase, additionally they managed to swerve and keep away from collisions, one of many geese flying over the fencing to security.
It was on the fifth of seven laps that Iserbyt was in a position to cross Ronhaar on a large, left-hand nook when the younger Baloise rider’s again wheel clipped the course fencing, inflicting him to slide sideways. Instantly, Iserbyt jumped round on the within and took off, leaving Ronhaar to remount his bike and go into chase mode.
“When Eli got here at me, I jumped [into] the obstacles but it surely was slightly bit difficult. He was simply stronger,” Ronhaar mentioned, who encountered one of many geese a second time.
“Within the final spherical they have been there once more, however then I used to be a dying swan myself. I’m glad I’m third. I nearly fell off the rostrum.”
Iserbyt received the sixth spherical of the sequence in Flamanville and prolonged his World Cup sequence lead. Van der Haar completed second, which pushed him one spot larger within the World Cup standings, displacing Ronhaar to 3rd total.
🗨️ 🇳🇱 Pim Ronhaar: “Kwik, Kwek and Kwak* have been out of the blue on the course. Kwik acquired fortunate as a result of I nearly ran over him. The final lap they have been there once more. I feel they’ve had a pleasant day on the cyclocross.”* Names of Donald Duck’s nephews in Dutch 🇳🇱 https://t.co/K4lncD9IBZDecember 3, 2023